Secret Purrincess
by BookReader03
Summary: Marinette, the shy, clumsy girl who we all know and love has a secret. Yes, she is Ladybug, but that is not the secret that I am talking about. You see, she is also the princess of China, and low and behold, her class has been invited to her coronation. When will her secret finally be revealed during this 3 month vacation? What other secrets will be revealed? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Miraculous Ladybug._

Sabine's POV:

"Tom, are we doing the right thing, inviting our daughters class to her coronation?" I said turning to my husband.

"She might not think so, but in the end she is going to be grateful that we invited them." He sighed and turned to face me. "She is going to want some emotional support from her peers. She is nervous enough as is."

"Although that may be true, I don't want her to be mad at us for doing this. She hasn't even told anyone in her class her secret yet, not even Alya." I said with a concerned face.

"She will tell them when she is ready, hopefully before the coronation happens." Tom smiled reassuringly.

Marinette's POV:

"And so class..." Mrs. Bustier said as my mind started to wander. I honestly wasn't really paying attention to what Mrs. Bustier was saying at all today. In all seriousness I have been focused on my coronation and only my coronation. It is only three months away. My family and I are leaving in two days. I will be spending my whole summer preparing to be the ruler of China. However, no one in my class knows this. I haven't even gotten the nerve to tell Chat Noir. I know I should have told the people in my class about it, but I don't enjoy titles. As far as telling Chat Noir, well that would definitely lead to an identity reveal and I just do not think that I would be able to handle that. Being the princess of China is not something that I like to brag about anyways. I'm not ashamed of it, but I have lived in Paris most of my life, all of my friends are here, my whole life is here and it is going to be hard to give it up. The worst part is that I will have to spend my time in the castle, and take over the royal duties. I barely even know my grandmother on my mom's side of the family. The most I see from her is during my two week visits during Christmas break every year. How does she know that I am qualified to rule?

"Girl were you even listening?" Alya asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"No. My mind has been kinda everywhere lately" I replied.

"Mrs. Bustier announced that we are going to be going on a class trip in two days Dudette! We will be going to China for the princess's coronation. And we get to live in the castle for the whole summer!" Nino said turning around in his chair.

"No way! That is so cool!" I said pretending to be excited when in reality I'm scared out of my mind.

"Now class, during this trip you are to be on your best behavior." Mrs. Bustier said while eyeing Chloe. "We will be in the castle as guests and that is not something to be taken lightly. All of your parents have already agreed that you have permission to come on the trip. I will be announcing your plane partners tomorrow, as well as the person who you will be paired up for the buddy system while we are in China. Now that I have told you all that you need to know for right now, Class dismissed."

After school I bolted home without saying goodbye to any of my friends. Generally I would spend 15 minutes waiting with my friends for them to be picked up, since I lived next door I could do that. Today was different. I couldn't just wait to talk to my parents. I mean, how could they do this to me.

Just from walking in my door I could tell my parents were expecting me to be mad. Mama and Papa had prepared my favourite foods to try to bribe me.

"Mama! Papa! How could you!" I yelled.

"Oh Marinette. Please be rational. Having them at the coronation isn't going to be the end of the world. It may even bring you closer to your peers. Besides, what's done is done and we can't take it back. So just enjoy your food and your next two days because after that everything is going to be different." Mama said.

"Okay Mama I understand why you did it, I just wish that you had given me some warning. I am just nervous that everyone is going to treat me differently, when I tell them, even though we all grew up together." I said with a concerned face.

"Well, I'm not going to say they aren't. Marinette, you are a princess. You have always been treated like you are just the baker's daughter, but things are about to change. People are bound to treat you different, but those who you are friends with will learn to live with it and soon enough things will go back to normal." Mama said with a smile.

"Okay Mama. I'm gonna go finish up my packing. I'll talk to you later." I said as I started walking up to my room.

"Marinette, one more thing. You should tell Alya before you go on the trip. We will be flying on our private plane and we think Alya should be there, so you have some company other than us." Mama suggested.

"I'll think about it Mama." I said as I closed the door.

Maybe I should tell Alya. She is someone I can rely on. Plus if I do then she can cover for me when I go to do my princess duties. However what if she accidentally tells everyone in the class before I get the chance to.

Before I knew it I had dialed Alta's number. It seemed as though it was taking forever for her to answer.

"Hey girl! Are you gonna tell me why you rushed out of school so fast? Even Adrien was worried for you!" Alya said over the phone.

"Yeah I will explain everything. But Alya, I need you to come over here. It's important." I said in a very serious tone.

"I'm on my way. Be there in 10." She said hanging up.

"Tikki, am I doing the right thing?" I said as I flopped onto my bed.

"Well, Marinette I agree with your parents. Alya is someone you can trust. She knows how to keep a secret, remember when you gave her the Fox Miraculous and she became Rena Rouge? She never told you. I think that you could trust her with your secrets and she would keep them under lock and key until the day she dies. If I could choose one person to reveal your secret to, it would be her, and I am not talking about you being a princess this time. You have my permission. Think about it." Tikki said right before she phased downstairs to get a cookie.

7 minutes later Alya came flying through my bedroom doors as though something was majorly wrong. I knew I had to tell her at some point. We sat in silence for another 10 minutes before she finally peeped up and questioned me.

"So Mari, what was so important that I needed to rush over here?" She said looking at me.

I took one giant breath in and "IamsoooosoooosorrythatIdidnottellyoubeforebutIamtheprincessofChinaandIdontwantyoutotreatmedifferently." I said as fast as I could.

"Mari, you are going to have to repeat that, and slower this time, I couldn't understand a single thing that you just said." She said laughing at me.

"Okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I am the princess of China. I should have told you sooner, but I was scared that you would treat me differently. Also, that is why I rushed out of school so fast today, the thought of everyone finding out my secret is very terrifying." I said as I looked down at the floor.

"Marinette, are you serious? I could never judge you, you are my best friend, no matter what, the important thing is that you did tell me." she said while nodding at me.

"Thanks Alya. You always know what to say. Do you want to spend the night? It is getting pretty late." I said giving her a glance.

"Obviously!" she said as she pulled out the pajamas that she had apparently put in her bag before she came here, knowing that she was going to be spending the night.

"Oh and Alya, one more thing... and I'm sorry for just blurting this... I am Ladybug." I said loud and clear...

 **So that was my attempt at a Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction I have tried to write them before but failed miserably but hopefully I will be able to stick with it. This is only chapter one. Be prepared for more! At the moment I don't have an upload schedule or anything because my writing is just whenever I have the time! But I hope you guys enjoyed this and even though it is a lot like other fanfic's I'm going to add my own spin, and hopefully you will like it! Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette's POV:

"Oh and Alya, one more thing... and I'm sorry for just blurting this... I am Ladybug." I blurted.

I know that it was a rash decision to tell her but I have been sick and tired of keeping it a secret. Alya is my best friend and after what she just told me, I know that I can trust her with this secret as well.

"Girl, you think I didn't know that? I have just been waiting for you to tell me yourself." She said laughing.

"What do you mean? I have done so much to keep this a secret!" I said as I started hyperventilating. "Does this mean other people know too? Did you tell Nino? Of course you did you tell him everything he is your boyfriend. Oh gosh! DOES ADRIEN KNOW? WAIT! How did you find out in the first place?"

"No Mari, I haven't told a soul, I promise. It's not my secret to tell. As far as how I found out, well, I am not oblivious... unlike some people in our class." She said hinting at my crush on Adrien. "I mean, you were always disappearing whenever an akuma attacked, and you were talking to your purse. Plus obviously I know that you need a Kawmi to transform so I figured that you were just talking to yours. Mari, as far as far as I know, I am the only one in the class who has figured out our secret, besides I'm the only one who has been a super hero before, and also, I am your best friend so no one has that advantage."

It is true, she is the person who knows me best. In all honesty her reasoning for knowing my secret made complete sense. It leaves me to wonder why no one else has noticed that I mysteriously disappear during akuma attacks. I may give fake excuses but they are really lame ones, and not even I would fall for them so I am surprised that my whole class has for so many years.

"I guess that makes sense. I am just glad that you know my secret now. In all honesty I am so glad that you already knew my secret." I said as I suddenly heard my bedroom door slam.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Alya said as she ran downstairs. I guess you could call it her reporters instinct. I quickly followed her... all the way downstairs to the bakery where my parents were closing up.

"Mama, did someone go upstairs?" I asked her.

"Yes one of your friends, I didn't quite catch her name though. I have definitely seen her before, I think at one of those fencing matches that you guys dragged me to that one time. I believe she was in the crowd. Anyways she went that direction." Mama said pointing towards the school.

"Thanks Mama, we are going to try to find her and see what she needed. See you later!" I said running out the door.

"Don't be out too late, even though you are a princess, it is still a school night missy!" I could barely hear my mother scream.

Looking around there was no one in sight, but I knew that someone was there, watching us. I decided to take matters into my hands, but transforming was not an option. I did not want to draw any more attention to my secret then what had already happened. I shot a text to Alya telling her that I was going to search the school grounds on foot. It took 10 minutes to find her but when I did, it was not who I was expecting.

"Kagami? It was you eavesdropping on mine and Alya's conversation? But why?" I asked with a shocked expression.

"Well, when I first came to Paris I had no friends. Until I met you and Adrien, that day I discovered how much he treasures your guy's friendship. Although I just assumed that he had a crush on you even though he denied it." She said taking a breath. "A few weeks ago when we all went skating I got that feeling again, however this time I felt as though he was using me to make you jealous. He denied that too but did confirm that he was crushing on somebody. In all honesty I came to your house tonight because after weeks of being jealous of you for having his heart, well in my eyes at least, I wanted to confront you, to get all of this off my chest. The way a friend would."

"But Kagami there is nothing to be jealous of, he doesn't have feelings for me. However, I am glad you thought to tell me this, how much of mine and Alya's conversation did you hear?" I asked with a worried glance.

"I heard all of it, but I am not going to tell anyone. I promise." She said with a smile.

"I believe you, but I feel like we should discuss this more. Do you want to join mine and Alya's sleepover?" I asked her.

"I guess?" I could barely hear her response because I was already dragging her back to my house where Alya was waiting for us.

We spent hours discussing my triple life. How much time I spend in China, how I manage to be a princess and Ladybug at the same time while keeping both a secret. Literally any question that popped into their heads I answered for them, and trust me there was a lot. Before we knew it we all passed out on my bedroom floor.

*The next morning*

"Mari, I may know that you get the royal treatment now, but that doesn't mean that I am going to give it to you so get your butt out of bed!" I heard Alya scream into my ear, which surprisingly woke me up.

"Geez, I'm awake okay? Lets just get ready for school guys, we don't want to miss the big speech that Mrs. Bustier is going to give to the class about our trip partners. I am just glad that you transferred into our class Kagami." I said getting out of bed.

"I am too Mari, I just wonder who my partners will be..." She replied back to me.

"Speaking of that... I have a surprise for the two of you." I said as I finished getting ready and bolted out the door as they chased after me. As if I was going to reveal THIS secret to them. Ha.

Even though we were technically were on time we were the last to show up, and right before the bell rang might I add. Everyone in our class gave us a questioning look as I ran into the room with both of them chasing me trying to get the surprise out of me. I just started laughing and said "You will find out soon enough, and in all honesty probably in the next 10 minutes..."

"Now class, lets discuss your partners for the trip. Lets begin with whom you will sit on the plane with, and who you will be rooming with, seeing as they are the same people. So our groups are... Alix and Mylene, Kim and Max, Ivan and Nathaniel, Juleka and Rose, Chloe and Sabrina, Nino and Adrien, and our final group is a group of three; Marinette, Alya and Kagami. However you three will be on a separate plane because you will be travelling with Marinette and her family who are also going to China to visit their relatives and watch the Coronation together." Mrs. Bustier said as she smiled at us.

"I told you there would be a surprise for you guys, although it was planned last night." I said turning to face the girls.

"MARI I AM SO EXCITED!" Alya said as she tackled me in a hug, and not long after Kagami joined in.

"Now I am going to announce your groups that you will stick with while we are in China." Mrs. Bustier said. "The groups will be... Juleka, Rose, Nathaniel, Sabrina and Max... Alix, Mylene, Chloe, Kim and Ivan... and finally, Adrien, Nino, Alya, Kagami and Marinette."

"Ridiculous, I refuse to be paired with these commoners." Chloe started complaining already, and it did not stop until lunch.

 **Thanks for reading this chapter! I have decided that I am going to start posting on Mondays and Thursdays. (With the exception of today... being a Tuesday) So I will try my best to stick to that schedule, but depending on when I work during the week then the day that I update will just be pushed one day, or I will just upload it when I get home. Anyways I hope you enjoyed and keep reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette's POV:

The day went by relatively fast. Chloe stuck by Mrs. Bustier's side all day, complaining that she should be in a group with Adrien. Her complaints ended up bring useless. I on the other hand kept transferring my emotions from being super excited to being extremely nervous to have to reveal my princess status in just three months.

Walking home after school was probably the most peaceful time I could possibly have. Today on the other hand was a completely different story. My parents texted me that i needed to rush home right after school to finish packing because our royal guard had arrived to pack up our house and send everything to China. That is right, I am moving to China. It is probably the worst part about this whole ordeal. I won't ever get to see my friends again after the end of the summer. The palace will become my forever home, if I was to stay in Paris I would not be able to accomplish any of my royal duties.

"Marinette are you done packing yet?" Mama asked as she opened my bedroom door.

"Yes Mama, the only thing that isn't in a box or a suitcase are the pajamas that I am wearing and the clothes that I have set out for tomorrow morning." I said gesturing to the boxes piled up in my room.

"Okay sweetie. You should get some rest. Have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Make sure to remind Alya and Kagami that we have to be at the airport at 3:00 am so be prepared when we show up to pick them up. We will be in China long before any of your classmates because they won't be leaving until tomorrow night. You will have time to get settled in before any of them start prancing around the palace." Mama said as she shut off my bedroom lights.

I shot my friends a quick text and then fell asleep immediately. It wasn't until 1:00 am when I was shaken awake by my Kwami.

"Tikki, what is going on?" I asked, falling out of my bed.

"Marinette, there is an akuma! I know it is a bad time but we have no choice. We have to go." The little Kwami screamed flailing around the room.

"I'm on it. Tikki, Spots On!" I said and ran out onto my balcony.

Just looking onto the streets of Paris I could tell where the akuma was at. The Eiffel Tower. I ran in the direction hoping that Chat would already be there. My wish did come true, just not how I had hoped it would. Right in front of the Eiffel Tower, there was a girl the size of the Tower itself, holding Chat captive in a cage.

"Ah. Ladybug. Just who I was looking for. I am The Giant. Hand over your Miraculous and I will let Chat Noir go in peace." The Giant said as she glared at me

"Sorry, can't do that. But I would be willing to challenge you to some sort of competition. Anything you choose." I said glancing at Chat, giving him a knowing look to let him know to be prepare to escape. "Please, do take your time in deciding what you would like to challenge me to."

"Hm. That is tough." She said sitting down to think, and setting Chat's cage on the ground as well, but keeping her hand on the cage to make sure it didn't move.

She didn't even notice when it happened. "Cataclysm!" Chat shouted making the bars on the cage disappear using his destructive touch. He quickly ran out of the way before her hand had the chance to crush him.

"Thanks for saving me M'Lady. I wonder who tied her whiskers in a knot. Either way, she made a _giant_ mistake coming for our Miraculous's tonight." He said turning to face me.

"Not the time for puns Chat. We need to find where the akuma is hiding." I said rolling my eyes.

"It is in her charm bracelet. You see how she is twisting it while she thinks? It has to be there." He said pointing it out.

"You are right Kitty!" I said turning towards the Giant. "Hey, doesn't that cage seem a little empty there? Oh yeah, I helped him escape didn't I?" I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey! You tricked me! You didn't want to challenge me at all! Wimp! Can't fight without your little kitty cat can you Ladybug?" She shouted at me.

"That may be true, but you know what I can do on my own?" I said screaming back. "Lucky Charm! Huh? A bolder? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"That boulder isn't going to do anything Ladybug. You can't defeat me." The Giant said laughing. I however, was not paying attention to her, instead I was using my Miraculous Vision to formulate a plan. Once I had one I marked giant X on the ground.

"Kitty, I need you to get the bracelet onto that X. Can you do that?" I said.

"Of course Ladybug. Anything for you." He said with a smirk while I ran to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Finding the perfect spot to drop the boulder from was the difficult part. Yes my Miraculous Vision showed me where to drop it from but if I didn't put it in the exact spot this would all be for nothing. Once I finally had the boulder in place I gave Chat the signal to get the bracelet.

"Hey, try to _cat_ ch me!" He said as he started running around in circles. It managed to get the Giant to chase him, all the way to where his baton was perfectly placed to trip her. Her charm bracelet flew right off her wrist and onto the X. That was my cue to toss the boulder.

The bracelet broke immediately with the impact of the boulder, releasing the akuma. I quickly caught it. "No more evil-doing for you little akuma." I said while purifying it. "Bye bye little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!" I said tossing the boulder as far as I could into the air. Ladybugs flew through the sky fixing all that had been broken.

The Giant turned back into herself. "What? Where am I?" she said.

"You were a victim of Hawkmoth. But everything is going to be okay. Do you mind telling us what happened?" Chat asked.

"My sister was making fun of my height and wouldn't stop." She said with a sad face.

"Well, you should be proud of your height, no matter how tall or short you are. It is one of the things that makes each person special." I said with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks Ladybug and Chat Noir. You guys are awesome." She said as she walked back to her house.

"Pound it!" we both said giving each other a fist bump. Until our Miraculous's started to beep.

"Guess it's time to go. See ya kitty!" I said while using my yoyo to get back home.

After de-transforming I decided that it was not worth going back to sleep because we would be leaving for the airport in 15 minutes anyways. I hadn't realized how long the akuma took. I quickly handed Tikki a cooking as she flew into my purse and just in time too because my mom opened my bedroom door as she was just about to wake me up.

"Oh! Sweetie you are already awake and dressed. It must be the nerves. Well we might as well leave now seeing how we are all ready to go." she said grabbing my carry-on for me.

The car ride to the airport was fairly quiet. We picked up the girls on the way, and since they were half asleep none of us wanted to talk. I however was wide awake. It is hard to be sleepy after just fighting an akuma not even an hour before.

On the private plane we girls had our own compartment to ourselves while my parents were in a different compartment. I just knew that I was going to get bombarded with questions about the akuma attack once we were alone.

"Girl! Was the only reason we were on time today because you were already awake from the attack?" Alya asked.

"Yeah, it took a while to defeat so I just did not bother going back to sleep. Although I am quite tired now." I said closing my eyes, preparing to sleep by thinking about the akuma attack. "OH MY GOD! I forgot to tell Chat that I was going to be moving away! I told the Guardian and he let me keep Tikki because of our bond, and he said that he would pick a new miraculous holder who can purify akuma's so that Paris can always have a protector. I did not tell Chat. He is going to be so sad."

"Marinette, I believe that after a while he will get over the fact that you are gone. Yes he will miss you, and you will miss him, but there is more important things in the world other than think about your old partner. He will do just fine without you, no need to worry, he is a big boy." Kagami said trying to reassure me.

"Yeah you are right. I am going to go to sleep now, wake me up when it is time to get off the plane." I said closing my eyes.

"Mari, its an 11 hour flight, are you really going to sleep for that long?" Alya said.

"I am going to try!" I said laughing as I drifted to sleep.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! In the next chapter we get to see the gang in China so stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, remember when I said I was going to have an upload schedule? Well that didn't happen. Sorry about that. I have been very busy with school/work/rehearsals for a musical type thing. I know that I am just making up excuses, and I am sorry! This story had not even crossed my mind for months until I was going through my emails and I had a notification to it, so I decided it was finally time to upload another chapter...**

 **...also I feel as though I should clarify... Marinette is the princess of China, her class doesn't know that. The reason they are so excited to see the coronation is because it is a free trip, and it is made a big fuss about on the news. And in this fanfic, the citizens of china have not seen Marinette either so it will be her first appearance to the public. I hope you enjoy!**

Marinette's POV:

"...Marinette? Marinette? MARINETTE!" Alya screamed in my ear. To be honest it almost didn't wake me up, but then I realized where I would be.

"Did I really sleep the entire flight?" I asked with a confused look.

"No, but we have some questions to ask you." Kagami said.

"Go for it, I'm open to answer any of them." I said with a smile.

"Well, we know that we are rooming with you, but how will that work, like will the others be able to visit us or anything?" Alya asked. "And what do we tell people when they ask why we are separated from the other groups?"

"We just have to say that the three of us are spending some of our nights at my cousins house, as for them visiting us, they can if we are in a decoy room, because where we will be staying in the castle all three of us will be in a suite. It will be completely connected, but there will be three separate bedrooms, all with walk in closets, and a living room that divides them. It is where I always stay when I am at the castle, in case I want to have some of my royal friends stay over. However, I will have the staff prepare a decoy room for us so that the others can visit, as far as my knowledge is there are secret passageways connecting my room to other rooms, and one of the tunnels leads to a bedroom so we could really trick them."

"That actually sounds amazing Mari!" Kagami said in an excited tone.

I looked out the window to see China below. I screamed in excitement... "We are here!"

We spent the next hour getting our luggage and anything we might need from the plane. When we went outside to meet our drive I could tell that Alya and Kagami were surprised that it was a limo picking them up. I giggled at the shock on their faces. That look only got more intense when we got to the castle and they finally figured out how big it really was.

"Come on guys we can go find our rooms and get changed out of these clothes." I said grabbing their hands and leading them to the decoy room. Opening the door I marched right inside and flopped on one of the beds.

"This room is huge!" Kagami said. "Like only slightly smaller than my apartment in Paris..."

"Oh it gets better. Now I'll show you where we will actually be sleeping." I said as I ran up to the to the lamp on the wall and twisted it, you could hear some gears twisting until finally the wardrobe split in two revealing a secret passageway. I started walking into it. "Come on guys I'll show you the way."

I have to admit, if I had not walked through these passageways so many times in my life they would creep me out. They did not get cleaned often because not even the staff knew about them. It was essentially a very dark hallway that lead to nowhere unless you knew where you were going. After 5 minutes of walking we made it to our destination. It may not be the fastest mode of travel but, it sure did help in certain situations. I pulled the girls into our suite and I could already tell they were speechless.

"So that room over there is mine." I said pointing to the left side of the room. "And you guys can fight over who gets which room on that side. They both have their own bathroom and walk in closet, it is stocked with clothes of mine, which you can feel free to borrow, I have plenty enough in my closet. You might as well take a shower and get changed. We will be having dinner in an hour, I suggest you wear something dressy, because you will be meeting my grandmother, but she wont mind if you just wear everyday clothes." The moment I stopped talking they bolted into their rooms. I just laughed it off and went into mine to take a shower.

Deciding what to wear was one of the toughest decisions I have ever made. I decided to just go with one of my summer dresses that I kept at the castle. It was a dress where the bottom part of it was pink and a little shorter than knee length, and the top was a white halter top. I wore my miraculous... of course, as well as a diamond bracelet. My hair was down instead of in its regular pigtails. As much as I love the way I dress I think that it is nice to switch it up once in a while.

Walking into the living room I noticed that Alya and Kagami were waiting for me. They too decided to wear summer dresses, Alya's being a red-ish color with white stripes through it, and Kagami's was a red halter top dress with a black belt. They were both very simple dresses, but looked beautiful none the less.

"Were you guys waiting for me very long?" I asked.

"15 minutes maybe. We aren't the ones who stress over fashion." Alya said in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, whatever!" I said waving her off while giggling. "Lets just go, we will be late for dinner."

We made it to the dining room in almost no time. My parents and Grandmother were ready siting there waiting for us. I showed Alya and Kagami where to sit and then went over to my Grandmother and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then went back to my seat with the girls.

"Hello ladies! I see my dear Marinette has finally trusted some people with her secret. I'm so glad to hear it. It is so nice to meet you both." Grandmother said to the girls.

"Its a pleasure to meet you, your majesty." Kagami said and Alya nodded in agreement.

"The rest of your class will get here in the morning, before you guys wake up, so take it all in while you can." My dad said. "And sweetie, we know that you don't want to tell the rest of your class that you are moving to china for good, because Paris has always been your home, so to make things easier and so you don't have to go on and on explaining why they see your mother and I in the castle, you can say that we got offered a job to work in the castle as pastry chefs and we couldn't turn it down. It might just help you explain the move, without explaining the whole truth yet."

"Okay Papa. It sounds pretty rational to me." I said.

We finished up with our dinner, it was honestly pretty fun. We all took turns speaking about the most important parts of our lives (minus some details like the miraculous and crushes...) and we got to know my grandmother. We went back to our room, and got changed into our pajamas, then went into the living room to hang out and chat. By the time we looked at the clock it was 11 o'clock. We were all exhausted from the plane ride and easily fell asleep, and I mean on the floor of the living room. I had a feeling that we would spend many nights on the floor of this living room from countless sleepovers.

The next day I woke up first. It is rare, but it happens. It was 8 am. I figured the rest of our class would be here by now, so we should probably make an appearance. Quickly I woke the other girls up, we showered and changed. I sent a text to my dad saying that we were awake and to get the class to the dining room for breakfast (Last night he told me to do that so we could start eating with the class and not with the family so it would look less suspicious). I was wearing a simple white romper with a pink belt and light pink shoes I even put my hair into a ponytail, Kagami wore blue jean shorts with a red t-shirt and white sneakers, and Alya wore a green flannel shirt with white shorts and black sneakers.

We made our way through the secret passageway into the decoy room in case anyone sees us exiting. When we entered the decoy room we decided it would be best if we made it look like we slept in there last night, so we took the blankets and pillows off the beds and arranged them on the floor in a circle, the way we would at a sleepover. Then we left the room to go to breakfast. I stayed behind a few minutes just so it made me look like I was running late, eventually I actually was running late so I left the room in a rush. I was running through the doorway, but little did I know that someone just so happened to be right outside the door. I crashed right into them, and we both fell to the ground. When I looked up, that is when I realized who I crashed into... Adrien Agreste.


	5. Chapter 5

Marinette's POV:

"A-A-Adrien! Sorry am I... I mean, I sorry am. Ugh. I am sorry. I d-didn't see you there." I exclaimed while giving myself a mental slap in the face.

"No worries Marinette! It's equally my fault for walking so close to the door. You are okay right?" He asked with a concerned look. All I did was nod. "We should probably get to breakfast, we are running late enough as it is."

He stood up from the ground and then offered me a hand getting up. I gladly accepted, trying to hide the blush on my face. We started walking in silence. It was killing me, especially because I knew it was going to be a good 5 minute walk before we made it to the dining room. I cursed myself for being so awkward around him.

"I know you have visited china before, but that was to visit your family. Have you ever been inside the castle before yesterday when you guys arrived?" He asked, filling the silence.

"I h-have actually. W-when I was younger, during a visit to my family we decided to take a tour. It wasn't a full tour of the castle or anything, but I did get to see parts of it. It was very cool to say the least, but this experience is so much more." I said, barely noticing that I was no longer stuttering.

"How old were you when you and your family moved to Paris? I know that you were born here, but your dad is from Paris, right?" He asked.

"About 1 month after I was born we moved to Paris. It seems weird, I know, but my parents were planning on moving there before I was born, but then they got too busy preparing for me to be born, and sending their stuff to Paris, it took a little extra time." I said smiling, it wasn't a total lie, just not the whole truth. See my parents moved to Paris mainly for my safety. They didn't want people constantly trying to take my picture, so instead of keeping me locked up in the castle my whole life, like what happened to my mom, we moved somewhere that no one would think to look.

"Oh look I think the dining room is just over there." Adrien said as he pointed to the arch in the hallway.

"Yeah I think so, we ate in there last night." I said as I started walking to the dining room.

Opening the door I noticed that everyone in my class was already there, and the moment they heard the door open they all turned their heads to the noise.

"Girl, where were you? When we left the room you said you would be 5 minutes." Alya asked from her seat at the table.

"Adrien you too, what happened?" Nino asked gesturing Adrien to go sit with him.

I made my way to my seat in between Kagami and Alya, which just so happened to be right across from Adrien's seat. Something tells me that Alya did that on purpose.

"I lost track of time, and then as I was rushing out of the room I, quite literally, _ran_ into Adrien. Wait, why were you running late enough for me to crash into you?" I asked looking at him, trying to ignore the look Alya was giving me, because I knew it had to do with me not stuttering.

"Oh yeah I never explained. I... uhh.. got lost." He said looking down at his plate. "But, somehow I did manage to find my way back to the hallway with all of our bedrooms in it, which is when we ran into each other."

The group conversation ended there, because food was being brought to us. There was all sorts of different kinds of breakfast foods, but I chose to eat fruit salad. Everyone remained quiet for the most part, until Alya got curious.

"So what time did you guys get here? We arrived around dinnertime yesterday." She said looking around the room.

"We got here like 3 hours ago... maybe? As soon as we arrived we were shown to our rooms and decided to get ready for the day." Rose answered.

"Did you guys hear what was planned for the day? We weren't told much about it yet since we haven't seen Mrs. Bustier." Kagami asked.

"No, all we were told was that someone would come at breakfast to give us some important news, then we could have the rest of the day to explore the castle." Kim explained.

"Maybe it will be the Princess, or the Queen who come to give us this news." Juleka said.

"I doubt it. We haven't been here very long, but from what we hear the Queen and Princess tend to keep to themselves. That is probably why no one knows what the Princess looks like." Alya said giving me a subtle wink. No one seemed to notice if she was lying, which made me feel better.

"Well the Princess wont be hiding for very much longer, once she knows I am here. I'm sure she will want to become my friend right away." Chloe said in her arrogant voice, while flipping her hair.

"I highly doubt that. My cousin never leaves her room. I'm lucky enough to know who she is, most people aren't that lucky." Said a boy, my cousin, from the doorway. "My name is Keefe by the way. It's nice to meet you all." With that he gave me a smile without trying to make it obvious.

"Wait, you are related to the royal family? Does that make you a prince?" Asked Sabrina.

"Technically yes, I am a prince. Though I will never rule China, that will be my cousins job. My mother was second born to the queen, so the thrown will be passed down my aunts line." Keefe stated. "Anyways, the reason I am here. I have invitations for you all. To our annual masquerade ball. And, for the first time ever, the princess of China will be attending."

At that announcement everyone erupted in cheers.

"Are you saying that we will get to meet the princess?" Mylene asked when she received her invitation.

"You may, you just will not realize it. She will be in disguise just like everyone else. I must go now, I have to help prepare for the ball. Until next time." He said as he left the room.

It didn't take much longer for us to finish breakfast, so we decided to go back to our rooms, and by that I mean that Alya, Kagami, Alix, Mylene, Juleka, Rose and I went to our decoy room to hang out, and talk about the ball.

I took all of their measurements, because they all demanded that I should be the one do design their dresses, which I couldn't object to. In fact, I was more than happy to do it. We spent hours together until it was lunch time. Then we separated to eat, and then explore. I didn't need to explore, because of how well I knew the castle already, so Alya and Kagami went to explore while I went to the lounge to read and enjoy the scenery. The lounge is my favourite place in the castle, because it isn't super flashy, its more understated, which meant not many people knew it existed. My grandfather always brought me in here when I was little. He would read to me, or play the piano for me, or we would even play board games. That is when I decided that I should grab some games and invite a couple of friends to play them with me in the lounge.

The games were neatly put away on the highest shelf, so I grabbed the step stool. I was going to grab a few games so I really had to stretch my arms, even go on my tippy-toes to grab them, when I finally did, I managed to lose my balance and start falling to the floor. I closed my eyes to brace myself for the impact, but it never came. I opened my eyes to see that Keefe had managed to catch me.

"I'm glad I was here to catch you, you always have a knack for falling don't you Mari?" He said while putting me down.

"And yet, whenever we race our horses, I always win. How did you know I would be in here anyways?" I said while putting down the board games so I could give him a hug.

"You may not spend much time with me, but I still know you pretty well... and... Gramps always brought me here with you too... so I figured you would be here." He said while messing up my hair.

"Its weird to be here without him. I wish I could have been here for him, I didn't even know he was sick." I said starting to cry.

Keefe just wrapped me in another hug and said "Mari, none of us knew. He was very sudden, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. Before he died though, he gave me this to give to you." He handed me a book. Pride and Prejudice to be exact. "He said it was always your favourite."

I clung the book to my chest, and then hugged Keefe again, to try to stop me from crying. In between sobs I said "I've missed you Keefe. It has been so hard, going to school every day, dealing with bullies and then the loss of Grandpa, but, Paris has been my home for so long, it's really hard to deal with the fact that I'm never going to be going back."

We made our way to the couch, and he said "I know that I wont be able to make up for all of the friends you will be leaving behind, but hopefully my being here makes it a whole less harder. Besides, now we will have our home schooling together, and we can ride our horses all the time, and you wont have to deal with that annoying blond girl in your class. She sounded so rude, I don't know how you manage that everyday."

"That's Chloe for you. And thanks for being here for me Keefe. You are the best cousin I could ever ask for." I said smiling at him. Until there was a creak by the door. "What was that? Who is there?"

I rushed to the door, to find...

 **And... cliffhanger. Sorry to leave it at that, but it will just add to the suspense of the story. Anyways, thanks for reading this new chapter! I might start posting more frequently in two weeks... no promises. I just have exams, and although they were supposed to be this week, we got a bunch of snow days, and I spent my free time reading. (I read 7 books this week... I may have a problem... haha) Anyways, thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed. Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette's POV:

I rushed to the door to find...

"Grandma! You scared us! I thought it was someone in my class." I said running to give her a hug.

"Well, I am sorry sweetie, but I wanted a chance to see my grandchildren together. I also wanted to know how you feel about the masquerade. I know that it was sprung on you, but you will not have to make an official appearance as the Princess. You only have to be Marinette, and we can keep the press speculating about what you look like until the coronation." she said giving me a warm embrace.

"To be honest, I am scared of having to go to the masquerade. I know that no one will actually be able to know who I really am, but it still scares me that crazed paparazzi will be in the ballroom with me, desperately trying to figure out who the princess is. Though, I do think that it will be fun. I will get to spend time with my friends for a while before I have to give them up to be "Princess Marinette", I can just be... me." I shrugged.

"Nette, you are special no matter what. Your title does not define you. Everyone loves you for who you are, not what you are. I know those friends of yours would never judge you. and you shouldn't judge yourself." Keefe smiled. "Now, about the masquerade, you are making a bunch of your classmates dresses are you not?"

"Of course I am, I was drawing out some of the designs before you showed up." I say showing them my work.

"Sweetheart! These are gorgeous! You will have to start making them soon though, if you want to have them done in time for the ball." Grandma stated.

"Yeah, but Alix told me that we are going into town in the morning to go shopping and sight seeing, I'm planning on getting all the supplies that I need while I am there so that I can start making them as soon as tomorrow. My sewing room is still there right?" I asked.

"Yes and you have all the fabric that you could need in there." Grandma said.

"I think that I will head there now, there are a couple of dresses that I can start on." I said as I lifted the paperweight that was the trigger for another secret passageway. "See you guys."

The passageways are all over the place. I am just glad they aren't magic because then I would never be able to find my way around any place. When I was younger I kept getting confused so I took different colored ribbons to the wall lamps so that I could tell which passageway led where. There were so many ribbons. They are still on the lamps, but I no longer need them.

"How are you not scared Marinette?" Tikki popped her head out of my purse.

"I guess that I am just used to it. It's like how I am no longer scared when an akuma attacks. I was nervous at first, but after doing something for a long period of time, you aren't scared anymore." I replied.

We spent the rest of the walk talking about how different my life in the castle is compared to my life in Paris.

The moment we arrived at my sewing room I pulled the sketches out of my notebook. I pinned all of the designs to the cork-board and started on the first dress. i worked on it for hours until my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I said answering my phone.

"Girl! Where are you? It's dinner time and you are the only one missing... Mrs. Bustier is going to announce our full plans for tomorrow." Alya screamed through the phone.

"Is it really that late? I have been working on the dresses. I'll be there as fast as possible." I said scrambling to my feet.

I hung up the phone and ran to the dining room. The moment that I opened the doors all eyes were on me. I put my head down and apologized for being late again. The moment I sat down one of the servers, Bertram, gave me my meal. Mine was different than the rest of the classes, because it is specially prepared to make sure that I get all of my mandatory vitamins and nutrients. That being said, everyone else's food is also very healthy for them, just not as carefully made.

"So class, lets discuss what we will be doing tomorrow. We have a very busy day." Mrs. Bustier said. "Breakfast at 9am, then we load the limos and head to the museum. We will be spending four hours there, but we will be separated into our groups. From there we will go to lunch at a restaurant and then you will have three hours to go exploring. We will meet back up at the restaurant and hop into the limos to be back at the castle for supper. After supper you can roam around the castle until 10pm and then its lights out."

We all nodded. Once we finished eating we went in separate directions. I pulled Alya and Kagami into my sewing room to show them the progress that I had done on the dresses. Honestly I hadn't done much work so far, only the lining of Rose's dress, but I have all of the designs done. All seven dresses are going to look absolutely stunning.

Soon enough Alya and Kagami left and I went back to making the dresses. It ended up by being midnight before I looked at the clock. Quickly I ran through the tunnels into the decoy room, where my two friends were passed out waiting for me. Instead of waking them up and going to our real room, i just curled up on one of the beds and went to sleep.

A few hours later I was woken up by gentle shaking. I opened my eyes to reveal Keefe towering over my body.

"Get off me you creep." I said laughing and throwing my pillow at him.

"Hey, I just wanted to spend time with my cousin, but if you don't want to that is fine too." He said shrugging and turning away to leave.

"Oh no you don't!" I screamed and jumped on his back.

We both began laughing really loudly. I missed this. Just like when we were kids. I was about to invite him to sit down until...

"Mari, can you please just go hang out with him... some of us are still trying to sleep." Alya said as she turned over.

I looked at the clock, it read 5am. I quickly got changed into a riding outfit and left the room. Any time Keefe and I hang out we always go riding.

"So Nette, our regular warm up?" Keefe said.

All I did in response was nod, then I bolted across the riding field. I didn't even look back to see if he was following me. By the time I got to the other side of the field he had caught up with me. I tackled him in a hug. Soon enough we mounted our horses and were riding along the field. It was the most fun that I was able to have in days. My horse is named Vivienne . I call her Viv. I do not get to spend very much time with her, but when I do it is always spent pampering her. Unfortunately for me, that couldn't happen today. I looked at my watch and it was already 6:30. People would be waking up soon. So we put the horses back in their pens. On the way back to the front door I stopped and gave Keefe one final hug.

"Thanks for doing this Keefe. You are the best cousin a girl could ask for." I said with a smile.

"Well, we used to spend so much time together during Christmas breaks when we were kids. I am just glad we will be able to do this more often." He said.

"Of course. I mean I am going to miss my life and friends in Paris, but I know that being the princess and being in charge of China is more important. Grandma cannot do it on her own." I said."And anyways,being the princess is not going to be that ba-"

As I tried to continue my sentence a pair of headphones hit my head. I look up to reveal that Nino was sitting on the balcony listening to the entire conversation.

"Dudette?! Did I just hear what I think I just heard?!" He screamed.

"NINO? I-I-I can explain..." I said.

 **So...Yeah I haven't updated this story in so long. I honestly forgot that it existed. It wasn't until I was going through my email where I got notification that it got a couple of followers. I decided that I should update it. I am in no way going to promise to update again, because that never works out for me. However, I am going to TRY to update. I have not received many shifts at work lately, so I have free time. So no, promises but I will try. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette's POV:

"Keefe, what do I do?" I say as I am rushing to my room.

"He heard our entire conversation...You are gonna have to tell him the truth." Keefe says as he is following me at equal speed.

"I can't. I just cannot face this. It was fine when I told Alya and Kagami, because not only are they my best friends, but I haven't known them for very long. That is going to crush Nino. I have known him since we were in Kindergarten. He is going to be so upset that I have been lying to him our entire lives. I just can't face him right now, his disappointment in me is going to be too much." I say with tears forming in my eyes.

At this point I get to the decoy room, and I slip inside fast enough that Nino did not catch me, though, it was close, he was rounding the corner to get to my room. Luckily he did not see me. As soon as I enter the room, I wake up Alya and Kagami.

"Mari, why are you crying? What did Keefe do?" Alya says while wrapping me in a hug.

"It wasn't Keefe. It was Nino... He found out. He was on the balcony of his room, and over-heard Keefe and I talking. He is probably so mad at me for lying to him our entire lives. I can't face him right now." I say as I start opening the secret passage way.

"I am sure Nino will understand the secrecy. We did." Kagami adds.

"Kagami, thats just it. I told you guys my secret, and I have known you guys for barely two years. I have known him for so long it is like a betrayal." Someone starts knocking on the door. That is him, do not answer it until I am gone."

I started walking into the secret passageway. "Mari, what do we tell Mrs. Bustier?" Alya adds.

"Ummm... I do not know, can you come up with something?" I add before running towards my real room.

Nino's POV:

I'm sitting outside of Marinette's room questioning everything I have ever known about her. Is anything true? I have known her for so long, but she never told me that she is a princess. I'm not mad, I just want some answers. I mean... does anybody else even know?

"Nino? What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Alya asks while answering the door.

"I uh, I need to talk to Marinette." I said.

"Nino, you understand that it is before 7am. She is not awake, and will not be for a long time, I wasn't awake. You can talk to her at breakfast." She says while closing the door.

Instead of knocking again, I decide that Alya is right, that I can talk to her at breakfast, and we are in the same group, so she will have to spend time with me while we are touring China. I head to my room where Adrien is sitting wide awake.

"Hey Nino, where were you?" Adrien asks.

"I though that I heard Marinette outside earlier before you were awake, so I tried to go find her, but she wasn't even awake so I must have been hallucinating." I lied.

"Well if you heard a voice, then maybe it was the princess. Before everyone wakes up, that would be a perfect time to be able to leave her room." He adds.

I started panicking. How did he know! Of course he wouldn't know that it was Mari, but maybe he can see right through my lies.

"Nah. I doubt the princess would risk her anonymity like that. Especially with everyone staying in the palace. You were probably still half asleep, and hallucinating." He says with a joking tone.

We decided to get ready for the day, and go down for breakfast. Nearly everyone was there. Alya, Kagami, and Marinette had not arrived yet. Although everyone in our class is used to Marinette being late. Soon enough Alya and Kagami entered the room with nervous looks. They whispered something to Mrs. Bustier and then took their seats.

"Alright now that everybody is here..." Mrs. Bustier started.

"Um, Mrs. Bustier? Marinette is not here." Adrien adds.

"I am well aware of that. Alya and Kagami just informed me that Marinette is feeling under the weather today. Her parents are coming here to spend the day with her and to make her feel better. We however, are going to proceed with our activities. So as soon as we finish up our breakfast we will head to the limos." She said.

Adrien seemed a little disappointed in what she said. Honestly, most of our class looked disappointed by the fact that Mari would not be coming today. Everyone except Chloe. I felt guilty. I am the reason she is not coming today, and by the looks that Alya and Kagami are giving me, they know that too. They probably know everything.

Marinette's POV:

I know that I will have to talk to him eventually, in fact I think I will tonight. I just need a day to myself before telling him everything. By everything, I mean everything. Even the Ladybug secret, because in reality, I will not be returning to Paris to be Ladybug, and I have kept too many secrets from him.

Instead of going out with my class, I am going to spend the day making the dresses. And since I have the entire day, or well, until supper... I am going to probably finish. Especially because I have all the designs drawn up, I am going to bring in some of the royal seamstresses to help me along, because otherwise they would not be finished in time. I told Alya and Kagami and the other girls to pick up their masks today, mine will be the only one that I am going to make.

The day seemed to go by so quickly. Soon enough it was after supper. My class was definitely back by now. I went back to my real room to hang out there, but I sent Alya a text that I was ready to speak to Nino. To tell him everything. I told her to take him through the passageways to our room.

I could hear the footsteps becoming closer and closer. I was super nervous, but this was for Nino. He deserved to know. Everyone in my class deserves to know. I just do not think that I am strong enough to tell them all yet.

"Dudette? I mean, Princess Dudette. Princess Marinette? Your Highness? Mari... What do I call you now that I know." He says stepping into my room.

"You can call me whatever you feel like calling me. I am still the same girl that you have always known Nino." I say. "And by the way, I am so sorry that I never told you. It was never something that I wanted to share, because I try to avoid attention."

"You still could have told me Dudette. You are basically my little sister, I would have kept your secret. I will keep your secret. I promise you can trust me." He says.

"I know that Nino. I am so sorry for keeping this from you our entire lives. I wanna tell you the whole story. Are you ready for it?" I ask

"I don't know Mari. I think that I can handle it though." He says with a reassuring smile.

"Okay here it is... Just do not hate me." I say.

"I will never hate you Dudette." He replies.

So I proceed to tell him everything that I have ever hid from him our entire lives. It took up almost an entire hour. The secret is out now though.

"Wait, you are never going back to Paris? That means that these next few weeks here are going to be the last times I ever see you? The last times that anyone in our class will ever see you?" He says in a shocked tone.

"Yes, but no one other than Kagami, Alya and you know about this. I was planning on telling everyone next week after the ball. That way my dad's cover story will work. Having his food be provided at the ball is how I am going to describe his getting a job at the castle. I will miss everyone, but I have no choice. I have a duty to my people." I add.

"I understand. Anyways, I should head back. Adrien will be looking for me. I promise to keep your secrets Mari. You can trust me. See you in the morning." He says before heading back to his room.

After the long day of being nervous and then making all of the dresses, I was exhausted. I fell asleep the moment he left.

 **That is it for this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed. Until next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

(A few hours before the masquerade)

Marinette's POV:

I am sitting in my room awaiting the royal makeup artist and hair stylists. Normally I would just do my hair and makeup myself, but because this is my first time appearing in the public as the princess, I need to look my best. I also told Alya and Kagami that they could have their hair and makeup done by them as well, and they agreed almost instantly. It took all of four hours before we were finished getting ready, dresses and all. We all looked absolutely stunning.

"Mari, I absolutely love my dress!" Alya said while spinning around in it. Her dress was loosely based off of her outfit while she was Lady Wifi. I knew that it was possibly a bad decision to make all of the girls dresses symbolize their villainous alter-egos, but I also knew that no matter what, being akumatized was apart of them, and that they should own it instead of pretending that it never happened. Yes, some of the dresses would be colorful, and have funky patterns, but I managed to use those patterns to make elegant designs. I even showed them to my grandmother and she approved.

"Thanks Alya. I knew it was a long shot with those designs, but in the end it was totally worth it." I replied while going to put my dress on.

Even though it might blow my cover, I decided to make my dress have a Ladybug design. I won't ever get a chance to save Paris again, so I wanted to be able to honor my time as Ladybug. Plus, what is the worst that could happen? No one will know who I am, except Alya, Nino and Kagami. I'm not too worried that my identity will be figured out.

We put on the final touches to our outfits, the masks. Alya and Kagami went with masks that were relatively normal. Yes they hid their faces, but not entirely. It was easy to tell who they were, which is not a big deal. Me on the other hand, my mask was extravagant. My entire face, with the exception of my mouth was covered by it. No one would reconize me.

Alya and Kagami went down before me. I decided that I wanted a bit of alone time before the time came that I HAD to be there. I would be making my appearance as Marinette officially, but I'm not going to necessarily say my name to anyone. I think leaving some mystery is a good thing. My biggest hope is that Adrien might notice me tonight, and even though he won't know who I am, I hope that he will like me anyways.

After about 10 minutes I made my way down to the ballroom. There was so many people in there that I didn't know what to do with myself. Instead of finding someone to hang out with I decided to go to the snack table. My parents were there, making sure there were enough snacks for everyone. They may be royalty, but being bakers is still their favourite thing to do. I was chatting with them but keeping my eyes peeled for people in my class.

I was able to pick out all of the girls, with the exception of Chloe and Sabrina. That was mostly because I made their dresses. I couldn't figure out what any of the boys were dressed like, so I lost hope in trying to find Adrien. After a while of people watching, Alya and Kagami pulled me onto the dance floor. We were all having fun and dancing our hearts out. When a slow song came on Kagami and I moved to the edge of the room to take a break, while Alya went to find Nino for a dance. We kept up conversation, until someone asked Kagami to dance, so I was left alone. That was until I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to find a certain bluenette who looked particularly similar to me.

"Keefe is that you?" I asked.

"Yes it is Nette." He laughed. "I'm not some random creep trying to dance with you."

"You sure about that? You were leaning over my bed while I slept the other day... I think that qualifies as creepy... and you wouldn't be over here if you didn't want to dance with me." I mocked him. "Come on cousin, lets show these people our moves."

"I'm already ahead of you, I requested our song to be next." He said grabbing my hand.

"By requested you mean that you ordered them to play it because you are a prince and can do whatever you want." I said giving him a sarcastic glare.

"Well duh. Come on already, it's starting!" He shouted running into the middle of the room. I rushed after him laughing the whole way

For the record the song that we were talking about was "Shut up and Dance" by Walk the Moon. With the few visits that I have had, and through many, many video chats Keefe and I had choreographed an entire dance to this song. We always do it when we want to have some fun.

I hadn't even noticed but by the time we had finished our dance the entire crowd was surrounding us... I saw many cameras were filming us and I felt heat rush to my face. Not that any of them could tell. We weren't dancing to get attention, we just wanted to have some fun. I was really embarrassed so I quickly walked out of the ballroom and into my grandfathers lounge. I needed to calm down and it was the first place that I thought of. I pulled out my Pride and Prejudice book from my grandfather. I needed to feel close to him again.

I opened the first page, and when I did a picture fell out. It was of me and some boy that I did not recognize. I seemed very young, maybe two or three years old. We were sitting on a swing set in the yard of the castle. It was so weird, it seemed vaguely familiar but I still did not know who this boy was. It seemed like we were really close, and he looked like me. I thought that maybe it was Keefe, but this boy seemed to be six or seven years old, but Keefe is the same age as me. I flipped the photo over to look at the back side and at the top it said "Sebastian and Marinette, ages 6 and 3".

After seeing this I decided to search for my grandfathers photo album that he kept in his desk. After a few minutes of searching I finally found it. Opening to the first page I found a note addressed to me.

* * *

 _Marinette,_

 _Hi my dear granddaughter. I knew that you would be smart enough to look for this photo album. I know that you must be wondering who that boy in the photo is. Well, he was your older brother Sebastian, or as we called him Seb. I know that this is a lot to take in, but yes, you had a brother. I do not want you to ask your parents about him, it would make them too sad. Even writing this is making me sad, but I think it is only fair if you know about his existence now that you are older._

 _I wish I could be there to tell you about him in person, but I have fallen ill and I don't think I will be here much longer. I am sorry for keeping my illness a secret from everyone, but it was easier than seeing you be so upset. I love you my darling and this is why I need to let you know about the truth._

 _Seb was born three years before you were. We kept his existence a secret from all of China, the way we did with your mother. It was a rather big secret, but it was mandatory for his safety. The only reason that China knew about your existence was because someone was taking a tour of the castle and saw your mother walking around with me while carrying a baby girl, you. Once that happened they made the rash decision to move to Paris. So they had planned to stay with us originally, but they had no choice, with the constant paparazzi we couldn't hide your existence so they left. You and your brother left us, and only visited for holidays._

 _Unfortunately when you were three years old, during one of those visits something bad happened. Someone discovered Seb. This man was a bad man, and ended up kidnapping Seb. We searched for years, and we still have people out searching for him, but no one has been successful in finding him. We were all devastated and we can't even think about Seb without getting sad. So, since you and Keefe were so young to not remember him, we hid his existence even from you. I am sorry for doing this sweetie, but at the time, it had to be done._

 _You probably have so many questions, and I am sorry that I cannot answer them, but I do not want you to bother the rest of the family with this. It would hurt them too much. I am sorry to burden you with this knowledge, but you have a right to know. Seb would want you to know about him. Maybe one day we will find him._

 _I love you sweetheart,_

 _Your grandfather.  
_

* * *

By the time I finished reading the note I was in tears. I had to remove my mask in order to wipe them away. My mind was a spiral of thoughts. I had a brother. He got kidnapped and no one ever told me.

I was snapped out of my thought spiral when I heard footsteps coming this way. I hid the note and the picture in a desk drawer and locked it. The next thing I knew someone walked into the room as I was putting my mask back on...

 **So that is it for this chapter! I know it has been a while, but I am done apologizing for it, because it is bound to happen every time I post a chapter. i get these random bursts of creativity, and that is when I write this story. However I like where this story is going now, and I have ideas for the next chapter already so it might not be as long for it. Until next time guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

Marinette's POV:

"I know it's you Ke-" I started saying with my mask barely on my face.

However, it wasn't Keefe that walked in. I figured it would be, considering not many people know that this part of the castle exists. I never got to show it to my friends for a game night. The biggest question on my mind is... who is this guy?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here. I was just looking for a quiet room to get away from everybody." He said.

His voice sounded very familiar, but I still had no idea who he was. Like me, his mask covered his whole face with the exception of the mouth. It made it impossible to tell who he was. He was rather all, but from the sound of his voice I assume that he is my age.

"No, it's alright. That is why I am in here too. I discovered it a few minutes ago." I lied.

"Well, I know we are both in here to be alone, but maybe we could hang out?" He said back.

"I guess that wouldn't be that bad." I shrugged.

I proceeded to walk to the couch and sit down. I knew that I should not be talking to a stranger, but as long as he doesn't figure out who I am, that would be fine. Even if he found out my real name (which I am going to avoid using) he wouldn't figure out that I am the princess.

"You are that girl who was dancing earlier right? You and your friend were awesome. I could never pull that off." He laughed.

"Uh, yeah. That was my cousin, we do that dance all the time." I said, while trying to avoid eye contact.

"Well that is cool. I love your dress too. Ladybugs are a great design to dress in. Where did you get it?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"Oh... I um... I made it myself." I said looking down at the floor.

"Seriously? That is awesome, you have real talent. I am not really that into fashion, but I have a friend who loves it. My father too." He says.

We spent the next hour talking about a lot actually. Neither of us revealing our names. He is really easy to get along with. He could honestly give Adrien a run for his money in the sweetness department. I learned that he doesn't have the best home life, and doesn't get to go out often because of his strict father. It was great listening to him. I even shared about how I have to hide my life from everyone that I know. How difficult it is for me to not be who I truly am with them. I felt bad, because he told me a lot, but I kept my details locked away.

After a while we decided to go back into the ballroom and join everyone else. However, I found myself staying with him. We danced together the whole time, but no slow songs had come on so it got really warm really fast because we were dancing at a fast pace. Since it was so warm inside the ballroom we decided to so outside for some fresh air.

Of course that was when a slow song came on, but instead of going back inside, he offered me his hand to dance right then and there. Obviously I took it and so our slow dance began.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, but it feels like I have known you forever. How is that possible?" He asks.

"I feel the same way. I think that sometimes people are just meant to know each other. I think that you and I were meant to meet each other tonight, so that we could finally talk about stuff in our lives that is getting us down. You have become a great friend of mine already. " I say.

"I think it's more than that. You can't tell me that you don't feel anything between us. It is there. I have only known you for a few hours but you already know more about me than anyone I know. Spending this time with you has been amazing." He replies while taking off his mask. "I wanna know even more about you, because I think I really like you."

The moment his mask is fully removed I start screaming internally... ADRIEN?! I feel so oblivious. The blond hair and green eyes should have given it away.

"Eep." I screeched quietly. I could feel my stutter coming back. "Y-you l-l-like me? W-we j-just met though. How know you? I mean, how do you know that already?"

"It is just a gut feeling. I really like you and want to know more about you." He said.

Before I had anytime to process it, he kissed me. I was not expecting it at all. It was an amazing kiss, in fact, everything I have ever imagined it would be. Then it hit me... I was kissing Adrien Agreste, or rather, he was kissing me. However, he didn't know it was me.

"By the way, my name is Adrien. Can I learn your name?" He asked.

I was debating if I should tell him the truth or not. It would not blow my cover as the princess, but it might make things awkward. However, I loved him, and he deserved to know that it was me, Marinette.

"M-my name is -" I started to say before getting interrupted.

"PRINCESS! Majesty, the Queen is worried sick, she expected you to meet up with her a half an hour ago." One of the guards announced to me.

"I uh. Tell her that I will be there in just a moment." I said, making him go back inside.

I turned to Adrien and said, "You can't tell anyone that you met me. You will be in grave danger, and so will I... but for the record, I feel the same as you do."

With that I kissed him one last time and then ran to my grandmother's bedroom, expecting to find Keefe there with her. What I found was my grandmother sitting on the floor in tears with a note in her hand. It said...

 _To: The Queen of China_

 _I have taken another one of your grandchildren. If you want Keefe back, then you have to follow my demands._

 _I want $100,000,000 delivered to me by the end of the week, or you will never see him again. You better follow through this time. You know what happened last time you didn't take me seriously._

 _How is Seb doing? Oh wait, you wouldn't know, since you haven't seen him since I took him._

 _You better take me seriously this time,_

 _Anonymous_

"Keefe?!" I screamed.

I ran into my real room, ripped off my gown and mask, quickly changed into some comfy clothes, and crawled into bed. I laid there for hours crying. It was only when my parents came into the room that I stopped crying, even for just a moment.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you sweetheart. We didn't want you to worry about your safety." My mom said.

"How could you Mom? Dad? I have a brother, that you didn't tell me about. He got kidnapped, and because the kidnapper's ransom never got paid, we never saw him again. And now he has taken Keefe. MY BEST FRIEND. I don't want to hear what you guys have to say. Please just leave me alone." I screamed.

They understood that I needed alone time, so, after ensuring that I had people guarding my room, they left.

This is too much information to take in for one night.

* * *

 **I told you guys that it wouldn't be long until another chapter came out. Right now I have so many ideas that I might just keep writing. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

Marinette's POV:

I know that Keefe and Seb being taken is not my parents fault. It isn't anyone's fault but the person who took them. I just hate that my entire family hid it from me for my whole life. Gramps wanted to tell me, he said so in his letter. It just hurts to know that my family could have done something to get my brother back but decided against it.

I sulked in my room for the rest of the night. I felt bad because I was supposed to be having a wonderful time with my friends tonight. I completely abandoned them all. Of course only a select few would know that I was actually missing. I will explain to them later on when the party is over. After tonight's events, not even the fact that I kissed Adrien will cheer me up. Especially because I cannot even tell him about it.

I decided to take a nap to pass the time, but by the time I woke up it was the next day. I could tell because Alya was standing at the edge of my bed staring at me with a shocked face.

"Girl, care to explain why you disappeared last night? Also, why does it look like you were crying?" She asks with her arms crossed.

"Everything happened so quickly. I-I... Alya its just terrible." I started crying. While sobbing I started explaining the whole story. Alya crawled into my bed with me to give me a hug.

"Oh Mari. I'm so sorry." She said. "So to recap, you found out that you had a brother, then kissed Adrien, he found out that he was hanging out with the Princess, not knowing it was you, and then found out that Keefe was taken hostage."

"That is everything that happened. I-I just don't know what to do. I'm not mad at my parents for not telling me, like my grandpa said, it was too hard for them to talk about. It's just, I wish I did know about Seb." I said.

"I know girl. I don't really know what to say. It is going to hurt for a while. We are going to find Keefe though. Even if we have to take it into our own hands." Alya stated.

"That sounds good to me." I sighed. "We better get downstairs the class is going to be looking for us. I'm going to go get myself cleaned up. Take a shower. Do you think you can tell Kagami and Nino about what happened last night? I don't think I can repeat it again without breaking into tears."

"Anything for you girl. Go take your shower. Take your time, I'll be waiting in the living room area for you when you are done." Alya said, and with one last hug she pushed me towards the bathroom.

After a half an hour in the bathroom I finally felt refreshed. I decided to dress comfy today, and honestly I did not feel like trying. I threw on some black leggings and a hoodie. My hair was in a messy bun. The moment I walked into the living room I noticed that Alya and Kagami were dressed exactly like me.

"We figured that you would not want to try very hard today. So to make it less suspicious, we decided to dress like this also." Kagami stated.

"Plus it just seems like we are tired from last night. No one is going to suspect a thing." Alya said.

"You guys are the best." I smiled and gave them a hug.

After that we decided it was time to go downstairs and face the music. We traveled to the decoy room, and exited it into the hallway. While in the hallway we discovered that most of the other girls were dressed like us also, but they had no idea about our real reasons for dressing this way. We made our way down to the dining hall and sat down for breakfast. I looked across the table at Adrien, he had a distant look on his face. I knew that he was thinking about last night. I felt bad because I can't tell him that it was me.

"Now class. I hope you enjoyed last nights party. From the way that you are all dressed it seems as though you are rather tired. Unfortunately we cannot have a day to rest. We have an activity planned that I do not think you will want to miss out on." Mrs. Bustier said.

"What will we be doing?" Kim asked.

"I am glad you asked. The royal family arranged for us to be taught horse-back riding. How exciting!" She replied.

Everybody started talking in excitement. There are only a couple people in my class who have ever ridden a horse. Me included.

"Now, in your rooms there should be riding clothes provided for you. Go upstairs and get changed, and meet me down here in a half an hour. I will be giving you the names of the horses that you are assigned to." Mrs. Bustier said as she ushered us upstairs.

I quickly got into my room, and changed into one of my many riding outfits, and pulling out a couple for Kagami and Alya. After we were all changed we went to gather with everybody else. I already knew what horse I would be riding, but I couldn't let anyone else know that.

"Now that we are all here, here are the names of your guy's horses for the day...

Alya and Flame, Kim and Knight, Sabrina and Storm, Chloe and Cashmere, Marinette and Vivienne, Adrien and Raven, Juleka and Pepper, Rose and Lily, Max and Jigsaw, Mylene and Snowball, Ivan and Jet, Alix and Major, Nino and Scout, Kagami and Dash, Nathaniel and Henri.

Okay, now we are going to go down to the stables and meet the horses."

We all ran. I was going specifically fast because I couldn't wait to see Viv. Strait away I gave her a hug, and then while everyone else got acquainted with their horses I grabbed a brush and started grooming Viv. We were asked if we had riding experience, and the few of us who did were allowed to mount our horses and ride around the track. It felt great to be back riding again. Of course it brought back memories of Keefe, but I chose to ignore them for now. I rode around the track for a while, and then decided to go through the obstacle course. It is some of the regular training that we would always do. After about an hour we were done riding. It felt great being out there with Viv again.

"Marinette, I didn't know you were so good with horses." Said Mylene on the walk back inside.

"I have been riding them on and off all my life." I said. Not a complete lie.

"That's awesome. Hey, weren't your parents at the Masquerade last night?" Asked Rose.

"Um, yeah they were. They got hired for the night to serve the guests." I replied.

With that we finished the conversation. We separated into our rooms to get showered and changed back into our regular clothes. By the time we were done it was a little past lunch, so we went back down to the dining room. I knew it was finally time to tell the class about my move. I nodded at Alya, Kagami and Nino, and then stood up to make my announcement.

"Um guys, can I say something?" I asked the class.

"Yeah sure Marinette, we are all ears." Said Alix.

"So, I- Uh, this is hard to say." I scratched the back of my neck. Alya and Kagami stood up to be next to me as moral support. "So, I kinda told a little fib earlier. When I said that my parents were hired for the night to serve the guests..."

"What do you mean Marinette?" Asked Adrien.

"They- Uh, They got approached a few months back. The royal family asked them to work here at the castle. They accepted. I-I guess W-what I am trying to say is that, I am not going back to Paris with you guys once the trip is done. My family and I are moving here for good." I said.

"I'm sorry what?" Said Kim.

"I know that it was sudden, but I couldn't bring myself to tell you guys." I replied.

Alya and Kagami wrapped me in a hug. I sighed in relief from their support.

"Wait did you two know about this?" Asked Adrien pointing at Alya and Kagami.

"They did, and so did I. Mari, I know this is hard for you, but we are all here for you Dudette." Said Nino.

"How are you all so calm about this? This is insane!" Screamed Alix, soon enough everyone in the class was screaming.

"Well good riddance. I am glad Maritrash is going to be gone." Said Chloe.

"SHUT UP CHLOE. Unlike you we are going to miss her." Said Nathaniel and then he turned to me, "Marinette you can't leave us. You mean too much to all of us."

"I have no choice guys. It is what is best for my family right now. Plus we are going to be closer to my grandmother. I'm sorry I didn't tell you all sooner." I said and then ran off.

I kept running until I was on the lawn, on the outskirts of the property. I finally sat down for a breather. I slouched down against a tree. I should have waited longer to tell them. After about a half an hour by myself I decided that I should probably head back, so I stood up. As I was walking back to the castle I glanced back at where I was sitting. Not far away from it I saw something dark in the grass. I turned around to go investigate what it was. When I finally reached it I picked it up. It was a black mask, probably from last night. However, this mask looked really familiar. And that is when it hit me.

"KEEFE!" I screamed.

* * *

 **That is it for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. IN few weeks I am going to have exams, so I cannot guarantee me updating, but I am going to try to. I have a couple ideas for new chapters so we will see. Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

Marinette's POV:

I know this mask. I remember it from the masquerade. It was Keefe's mask. The kidnapper must have grabbed Keefe from this spot in the yard. Knowing Keefe, he probably took off his mask here to leave it as a clue. He knows that I will stop at nothing to find him, it's just the type of person that I am. He would be right in that assumption, but I can't just venture off on my own. My family, and the guards would worry about me. I will have to wait for the perfect opportunity.

I stashed the mask into the pocket of my hoodie and crept my way to my bedroom, being careful not to run into anyone from my class. I need to hide the mask until I can look into it further.

When I got to my room I immediately went into my closet. There is so much storage space that no one would find it if they weren't specifically looking for it. I strategically hid it in a cubby that is hard to get at.

"Marinette? Are you in here?" I heard from the other room. It was Maman.

"Just one moment Maman!" I answered. I quickly changed my outfit so it did not seem suspicious that I was in my closet.

"Hey sweetie. Are you still mad at your father and I?" She asked.

"Maman, I was never mad at you. Sure I was a little upset that you hid Sebs existence from me, but I was not mad at you. I understand why you didn't tell me. It was too hard for you to say out loud." I replied and gave her a hug to prove that I'm not mad.

"That is such a relief. I'm still sorry that we did not tell you about him." She sighed.

"Honestly, it's okay Maman." I smiled. "So, change of topic. I told my class about the move here."

"How did they take it?" She questioned as we moved into the living room area to chat longer.

"Not that well." I shrugged. "I didn't stay long enough to get their full reactions. They started shouting because Alya, Kagami and Nino were acting calm about it, so I ran. I just hate letting down my classmates."

"Sweetie, they will understand, just give them some time." She replied calmly. "I'm sure they were just trying to get over the initial shock of it. They all love you, which is why they got upset about it."

"I know Maman." I gave her another hug. "Thanks for coming to check on me."

"What kind of mother would I be if I didn't check on you?" She said.

I giggled. "Hey Maman, if you don't mind... I uh... I kinda want to know more about Seb. It is okay if you do not want to talk about him, but I want to know what he was like." I asked with a smile.

"It does hurt to talk about him, but I owe it to you to tell you about him. What do you want to know?" She answers.

We spent the rest of the night talking about Seb, it was great that Maman was able to tell me about him. From what Maman describes, he and I were very much alike. Athough he didn't want to be a fashion designer, he loved drawing. Maman also said that he was almost as clumsy as I am. Always tripping over his own feet, or saying something that he didn't mean to say. It made me feel like he and I would have been really close if I had gotten to know him.

* * *

*The Next Day*

I finally emerged from my room at around 8 in the morning. When I got to the decoy room, I figured that everyone was already at breakfast. Exiting the room was eerily quiet. I didn't think that I was that late. I decided to move faster towards the dining room. The door was closed so no one knew that I was there. It was quiet enough that I could hear the conversations of my classmates from the hallway, and although I do not condone eavesdropping, I felt as though I needed to hear what was being said. Especially because I heard someone mention my name.

"I cannot believe that Marinette would hide this from us." Someone said.

"I completely agree with you Rose. How could she not tell us that she was moving." I recognized that voice as Juleka.

"Guys, think about how Marinette must feel. She hid it because it was too tough to talk about." Surprisingly Chloe said.

"Since when were you on Marinette's side Chloe?" Asked someone else.

"It's just that I understand having to do things because your parents tell you too. My mom does stuff like this all the time. Moving around. Either taking me with her, or leaving me with my dad. All I am saying is that maybe you should cut the girl some slack." Chloe replied.

"I agree with Chloe. I am sure that if Marinette had the option to stay in Paris with us, then she would. It isn't right of you guys to punish her for something that she has no control over." Adrien responded.

Suddenly someone entered the hallway from another room. I turned around to see... Gabriel Agreste. In person and everything. As well as his assistant Natalie and Adrien's bodyguard.

"Mr. Agreste? UM- Hello. W-What are you doing in the palace... I mean China... Well both?" I stuttered.

"You are in Adrien's class correct? All will be revealed soon. In the meantime, could you possibly show us into the dining room? I believe that is where the rest of your class is." He responded.

"Uh, absolutely sir. It is right through here." I say opening the door to the dining room.

The moment the door opened, all eyes were on me, completely ignoring the people standing behind me.

"Mari! We were so worried about you! When you weren't in our room when we got back I was shocked. Your mom explained to me that you stayed with your parents last night, so we wouldn't continue to worry." Alya said as she tackled me in a hug. I knew she was lying to make sure that no one else in the class caught on. She made it very convincing though.

Soon enough Nino, Adrien and Kagami joined into the hug. I laughed it off, very glad that at least I had them to keep me company while the rest of my class was mad at me. Adrien is so nice, so I wasn't that surprised by him defending me in their earlier conversation, but I never suspected Chloe to be on my side.

"Um, thanks guys. I'm glad that you are here for me." I said low enough so they would be the only ones to hear it. Then changing the volume of my voice for my next sentence. "A-Adrien. Your here is father. O-Oops. I mean... Your father is here." I say and then point to Mr. Agreste.

"Father?" Adrien questioned.

The moment that Adrien said that our food was served. The staff waited until I showed up to serve the food. We all sat down, including the unexpected guests. We went a whole meal without discussing the elephant in the room, and I had enough of not knowing why he was here.

"Mr. Agreste, if you do not mind me asking, what are you doing here?" I asked, my voice faltering a little bit.

"I am glad someone finally asked." He said.

I think I detected a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. I decided that I was right with that assumption, due to the look on Adrien's face. He was shocked that his father even had the slightest sense of humor.

"I am here because I have a fashion show that is going to be put on here at the castle. I have crew setting up a stage in the ballroom at this very second." He said.

"I am assuming that I will be modeling father?" Adrien asked.

"Of course you are Adrien. What kind of ridiculous question is that?" Mr. Agreste responded. "However, son, you are not the only one modelling. All of you are. I have made line of clothing for the royal family. This is why I agreed to you coming on this trip Adrien."

"Does that mean that I will have to return home with you when this fashion show is done?" Adrien with a disappointing look on his face.

"I can see why you would assume that I would make you return home, but no. You are allowed to stay here. It is a perfect opportunity for you to practice your Chinese language skills." His father responded.

Mr. Agreste stood up from his chair pulled out a notebook from a bag that Natalie had. "Now, if you could all stand in a line, I need to decide which outfits will best suit you based on body structure and skin tone." He said.

We did as he asked. It wasn't very long until we were all ushered into the ballroom where we spent hours rehearsing how to walk down a runway. There were some people who were naturals at it, such as Chloe, Alya, Juleka, Alix, Kim and Max. The rest of us weren't so lucky. I kept tripping over my footing. It seemed like the whole day was done by the time we all were able to do a moderately well strut.

Just as it seemed that the rehearsing would be done, so that we could have some time to relax before the show tonight, Gabriel gave some of the girls a pair of heels to walk in. He wanted to make sure that we could walk down the runway while in them. Fortunately for me, being a princess, I have walked in heels very often. I even danced in heels at the ball the other night. The other girls were not as lucky as me.

After about 4 hours of rehearsal, it was finally lunchtime. We sat down in the dining room exhausted from the day that we had just been through. Mr. Agreste told us to rest up because the show is at 6pm.

"UGH. My feet have never been in this much pain before." Screeched Mylene.

"Seriously Sunshine. How do you do this all the time?" Alya stated.

"Trust me, you get used to it after a while." Adrien laughed. "Marinette, although you started out rough, you really seemed to get the hang of it."

"Thanks Adrien. I think that I will just be glad when this is all over. I don't know if my feet can handle much more of this." I laughed.

After we ate, everyone separated to spend their free time however they liked. Alya, Kagami, Nino, Adrien, and Chloe stuck back with me. When we asked her about it, Chloe just shrugged it off. I decided that I would finally show them the board games that were in my grandfathers lounge.

"Hey guys. When I was exploring I found this lounge that had some board games in it. Lets go play one." I said running off towards the lounge, leaving them to eat my dust.

Being Ladybug, I have more physical ability than most people do. So, I am rather fast, and I wasn't expecting any of them to keep up. However, when I turned my head, Adrien was hot on my trail. I giggled and just ran a little faster.

Once everyone was in the lounge, I grabbed one of the games from the shelf (Without falling this time). We played it for a couple of hours until it was just about time to get ready for the fashion show. Chloe was actually pretty good company to be around. She hides with this big facade, but underneath that mean exterior, there is actually a really nice girl.

As we were all packing up, Chloe decided to take a look around the lounge. I kept my eye on her but I was more focused on cleaning up the game. When I finally turned my head I noticed Chloe about to pick up a pen from the pen holder. Normally this wouldn't freak me out, but this particular pen was a trigger for a secret passage way. Luckily, she got interrupted by someone coming to tell us to go get ready for the fashion show.

We spent the next hour getting our hair and makeup done. Everyone looked amazing. The fashion show began. I was near the end of the lineup of models so The stylists waited a little longer to get me into my dress. So I decided to enjoy the show for a while. However, it wasn't long until I got rushed off into a dressing room to put on the dress that was designated to me. It was a floor length, light pink dress. It had little flowers on it, with pearls in the center. It was absolutely stunning. I put it on, and the moment I exited the dressing room, I was double check for any imperfections. Then sent on my way to wait in the wings of the stage.

"Marinette. You look stunning." Said a voice behind me. I turn around and see Alya in a orange knee length dress, Kagami in a red romper, and Chloe in a yellow sundress.

"Thanks girls." I said and gave them hugs.

"Good luck up there Marinette. You will do great." Kagami smiled and then they left.

I watched the show for a couple more minutes before I heard someone else get in line behind me. I looked and saw it was Adrien. I didn't really have the courage to acknolegfe his presence in the form of a sentence but I smiled. He could tell I was nervous about the show.

"I get that these things can be nerve wracking. I was a wreck my first show." He said.

"Adrien that isn't really helping my nerves." I said flatly.

"It wasn't supposed to. This is though..." He started, "When you get out there, imagine that the crowd is the people you feel the most comfortable around. Do not pay attention to the cameras, and have fun. These things are meant to be fun."

"Thanks Adrien. I guess you would know a lot about these things." I laughed.

"You could say that. I always imagine my mom being in the crowd, even though she isn't. It really helps me out." He scratched his neck then nodded towards the stage, "Looks like its your turn. Good luck!"

"I guess so. Thanks for the pep talk." I smiled and started to walk onto the stage.

"Oh and Marinette," Adrien caught my attention again, "You look beautiful. The crowd will love you."

I smiled in response and walked onto the runway as Nathaniel was leaving. Repeating Adrien's words in my head, I thought about my family. There were a lot of press there to capture the new _Gabriel_ line, but I didn't focus on them. I kept a smile on my face the whole time. I did as I was told this morning and kept my head held high. At the end of the runway, I struck a couple of poses, and even did a spin to show off the back of the dress for a few pictures. I felt very confident with what I was doing.

When my time was up, I turned to walk back to the dressing room. However I was still on stage, so I kept my head held high. I saw Adrien start walking onto the stage. If I had only looked down for a second I would have noticed a wet spot on the stage from a leak in the ceiling.

The moment that my foot hit the water, I slipped. My feet gave out from under me, and I started falling. It was as though I was moving in slow motion. I knew that I was about to hit the stage at any given second, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. In my peripheral vision I could see Adrien try to rush to my side to catch me, but he wasn't going to reach me in time.

After what seemed like an eternity, my body collided with the stage slowly. I thought that maybe that would be it, nothing too serious. I was clearly wrong because soon my head smashed against the stage, as I saw Adrien almost at my side to check to see if I was alright, and then everything went black...

* * *

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger! Actually I am not that sorry about it haha.**

 **I have been working on this chapter on and off for a few weeks, it is longer than they usually are, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. I have ideas for my next chapter, so we will see when the next update it.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter.**

 **Until next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

Marinette POV:

I woke up in a dark room, and a pain in my head. I felt groggy, and I could barely see. I reached up to touch my head, but my arm got pulled back. Almost as though it was chained up. I tried again with the other hand, but I had the same results. Both of my arms felt like they were chained up. I try to look around the room that I am in, but it's hard to see. It seems like a cage, but we don't have any cages in the castle. Within a few minutes the room appeared to be getting lighter. I could tell there was a window, and the sun was rising. I didn't even know that the sun had set. Finally being able to look around, I could see my surroundings. I was in some sort of room, the walls were made of glass. I was definitely chained up. Lifting my head is a challenge, but I do it anyways. When I look across the room there is a figure in the glass, also chained up. The figure looks miserable.

It was Keefe. When I was looking up, so was he.

"KEEFE! Where are we?" I screamed.

No response.

"KEEFE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" I screamed again.

Still no response. He couldn't hear me. It was like he also couldn't see me.

I wasn't scared to begin with, but that was probably due to the trauma to my head. I am terrified at this point. Maybe the kidnapper found me while I was unconscious. I started thrashing, trying to escape from the chains, but it was no use. I could barely move. Was the water on the floor a trap? How did the kidnapper know who I was? I was so careful.

After a few minutes, I got tired from moving. My injury wasn't helping at all. It was just making me tire faster. I stopped thrashing when I heard someone enter the corridor. I was so scared that I just stopped moving altogether. I put my head down and closed my eyes, as though I was still unconscious.

"Well kid, so far there has been no response to the ransom note... It seems like that family of yours has given up... maybe you should tell me the identity of your cousin, then maybe you wouldn't be alone here, she would be here too." A voice said, directing his words at Keefe.

There was no response. I found it strange. How come the voice was asking for my identity when I am already here.

"Got nothing to say? Well fine then. Maybe some time in the cold, dirty, grim dungeon will change your mind." The voice said, taking Keefe from his cage and then leaving the corridor.

I needed to follow them, Keefe was too important to not follow. I spent 20 minutes thrashing at the chains, and struggling. I wasn't getting out anytime soon. I suddenly became overwhelmed by exhaustion. Soon enough, I passed out again.

* * *

 ** _*A Few Hours Later*_**

"I think she is finally waking up." A voice said.

"Come on sweetie, wake up" Another voice said. I think it was my mother's voice.

"Keefe! Where are you taking him! NO!" I screamed as I woke up and started hyperventilating.

I glanced around the room, I was in my bedroom. Alya, Kagami, my parents and my grandmother were around me. They all had the same concerned look on their faces. I could understand why they would have those faces, something had happened to me. Seeing their faces calmed me down enough to stop hyperventilating.

"Honey, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" My father said while enveloping me in a giant hug.

"I must have. It.. It was so real though. What happened to me?" I asked.

"You slipped on some water during the fashion show. Adrien tried to get to you in time to catch you, but he was too late, and your head hit the floor really hard. We were all shocked when the doctor said that you didn't have a concussion." Kagami explained.

"I guess that would be why my head hurts so much, and why I feel so drowsy." I said.

"The drowsiness is most likely due to the medication that the doctor gave you." Alya said.

"We were so worried about you. Not just us, Nino has been in to see you, but mostly he has been spending his time watching over Adrien. He is terrified that something horrible was going to happen to you, and he thinks that it is his fault." Kagami explained.

"How could it be his fault? I slipped because of some water on the stage, and because of how clumsy I am." I said.

"While that may be true, he blames himself for not getting to you in time. He thinks that you getting hurt is all his fault, and he is beating himself up over it." Alya said with a sad look on his face.

"Then I have to go tell him otherwise." I said trying, and failing, to get up.

"Oh no you don't. You aren't getting out of this bed for at least a week." My mother said in a stern voice.

"Your mother is right dear. When you fell, not only did you hit your head, but you sprained your ankle. The doctor gave us strict orders to keep you on bed rest and keep your foot elevated. I'm sorry Marinette. We can't risk you getting hurt again." My grandmother exclaimed.

"Well, if I have to stay in bed, could we at least move me to the decoy room? That way my other friends can visit me? I don't want them to worry, and not be able to see that I will be alright." I said.

"That seems fair enough, but if you are going to be moved to that room, then it is your father who will move you." My mother said, and I just nodded in response.

In no time I was in the decoy room. After a half an hour my parents and grandmother left. I had apparently been out for around three hours, it was nearly 11 pm. We all figured that all of my classmates had already gone to bed by now, so Alya and Kagami decided they would tell them that I woke up in the morning.

"You guys should go to bed. You have been tiring yourselves out worrying about me. Get some sleep. I will be fine." I said looking at Kagami and Alya who I could visually tell were exhausted.

"Nah - We... aren" Alya started with a yawn while trying to keep her eyes open. "...we.. we.. are... aren't tired..."

"Alya, Just go to bed." I said. I looked over at Kagami who already passed out from her exhaustion. "Take her lead. You are of no use to me when you are tired."

"Fine... but only because you are begging me to Mari." She said as she laid down in her bed and fell asleep quite quickly.

"That took long enough." I laughed. "Tikki? Are you awake?" I asked looking at the little red bug laying beside me.

"Yeah, I have been worried about you Marinette. You are my chosen and I was so scared that you were majorly hurt." She said while tackling me in a hug.

"I'm fine Tikki, really. It was more scary than anything." I said. "Especially the dream I had while I was unconscious... It seemed so real, so vivid."

"What do you mean Marinette?" She asked.

"Well, I had a dream that I was locked in a cage. There were chains on my arms, and Keefe was there too. He was in a different cage, but it was facing mine. He couldn't see or hear me when I screamed at him to get his attention." I explained, while shaking.

I spent some time explaining every detail of the dream to Tikki. She is able to calm me down without trying. she is probably the best listener I know, and it is so easy for me to open up to her. I hadn't even told Alya or Kagami about the dream, because that's all it was, a Nightmare.

"Marinette, you were able to explain it so well, almost as though it was real. You noticed even the smallest details." Tikki said.

"Is something wrong with that?" I asked.

"Not necessarily, but its concerning. Do you think you could call Master Fu? You should tell him this." She said.

I dialed his number. He answered right away.

"Marinette? How are you? Do you need something?" He asked.

"Tikki told me to call you so I could explain this strange dream I had." I said. Then I proceeded to explain the dream to him in full detail.

"This is concerning. From what I can tell Marinette, that wasn't just a dream. I believe it was an Astral Projection, an out of body experience. I believe you were actually able to see where your cousin was. He couldn't see or hear you, because you weren't actually there. Your connection to the miraculous made you able to do this, it is amazing really." He explained.

"So you are saying, that what I saw happening to Keefe, is really happening to him?" I asked.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying." He answered.

"Thank you for helping us Master." Tikki said.

I hung up the phone and I was absolutely shocked. I couldn't believe that it wasn't a dream.

"Tikki. I have to find a way to save him. I didn't see what the kidnapper looked like though." I said in defeat.

"You will save him Marinette, I know you will. Also, you might not know what the kidnapper looks like, but you know what the cages looked like, and you said that you could see a view from out Keefe's window." Tikki pointed out.

"You're right Tikki, I need to draw it out, and maybe we will be able to recognize where he is being kept." I exclaimed.

I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my sketchbook. I spent the next few hours drawing out the scene. I must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew I could hear shuffling around the room. I opened my eyes to see Kagami and Alya getting ready for the day.

"Good morning Mari, were you having troubles sleeping last night?" Kagami asked and pointed at the open sketchbook on my bed.

"No, I... I had to draw something important." I said, and then proceeded to tell them about my conversation with Master Fu, and the dream.

"Woah. That's intense." Alya pointed out.

"Yeah well, welcome to my Miraculous life... It's always intense." I say.

"Well, we were just headed downstairs to get some breakfast, and when we come back, we will have your food with us." Kagami said.

"Sounds good to me, maybe I can sleep a little more, I went to bed pretty late." I say.

The girls nodded and proceeded to walk to the door. However as soon as they opened it, many bodies fell into the room... Apparently the whole class had slept in the hallway by our bedroom door waiting to see if I was okay.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Alya said tripping over everyone who fell.

"Um. We were concerned about Marinette." Rose said innocently while standing up. Everyone proceeded to enter the room.

"I am okay you guys. You didn't have to wait at the door all night, if we had known you were there we would have let you know when I woke up last night. I guess these rooms are pretty sound proof." I laughed.

"You seem okay. But look at your foot! Did you twist your ankle?" Exclaimed Kim.

"Yeah, but I'll be back on my feet in a week." I answer.

"Typical clumsy Marinette. Always falling." Said Chloe. "The least the doctor could have done was give you a pretty wrap for your ankle. It is utterly ridiculous that they put that ugly thing on you. I'll get you a prettier one, don't worry."

"Uh, thanks Chloe." I said skeptically. "Anyways you guys, go get some breakfast. You have all day to talk to me. Go eat, and get your energy up."

They all reluctantly agreed, leaving the room. Well, everyone but Alya, Kagami, Nino and Adrien.

"I mean you guys too. Go get your food. I know you will be back with my food after." I said telling them to go.

"She is right, lets go guys..." Alya says ushering everyone out of the room.

"I'll, uh, I'll be down in a minute. I was hoping to speak to Marinette..." Said Adrien.

Alya looked back at me asking if it is okay to leave me here with him, I nodded.

"H-ey Marinette..." He started.

* * *

 **Hey guys, it has once again been a long time since I last updated... but that is not a shocker at this point... Fortunately, I plan on updating again tomorrow. I have been struck with inspiration, so that means more updates (hopefully). Until then, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**


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